Breaking The Girl
by xperimental
Summary: When Joey returns to the Bay, she discovers that things have changed in her absence, for the worse.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Breaking The Girl  
Author: xperimental  
Rating: T  
Fandom: Home And Away/Surprise crossover  
Pairing: Charlie/Joey, eventually Ruby/Nicole  
Disclaimer: Do I look like a crack monkey? No? Well, I obviously don't own them then.  
Summary: When Joey returns to the Bay, she discovers that things have changed in her absence, for the worse.**

_Twisting and turning  
Your feelings are burning  
You're breaking the girl  
She meant you no harm_

The first thing Joey Collins did after arriving back in Summer Bay was dump her belongings at her old family home. The second was to go out in search of caffeine.

Her last night on the boat had been a sleepless one. She was too keyed up about seeing Charlie again that sleep had eluded her and by the time four am had rolled around, Joey had given up on it completely and headed topside.

The time at sea had given her plenty of time to think, sorting fish and scrubbing down decks wasn't exactly the most complicated job in the world. She'd come to the conclusion that mistakes had been made, by both of them. Mostly by Charlie, sure, but Joey knew that she wasn't entirely blameless herself. But in that brief time before everything went to hell, things had been amazing between them and they'd both been happy. And Joey knew that if there was even a slight chance that they could have that again, then she owed it to herself to take it.

Luckily, Joey managed to drag herself all the way to the Diner without collapsing from exhaustion, praying with every step that she didn't run into Charlie in her fatigued state. She feared that any attempt at a meaningful conversation with her former lover would end up with her talking gibberish thanks to caffeine deprivation.

Pausing in the doorway, Joey stealthily cased the joint for any sign of Aden or her former housemates, to her eternal relief the coast appeared to be clear and she was able to walk into the Diner with her head held high.

"Oh, Joey pet," Colleen greeted her in her typically perky way. She thought that Joey was such a nice, helpful girl, shame about the lesbianism but nobody was perfect. "When did you get back from your trip?"

"Uh, a while ago," Joey answered, deliberately being vague. "Can I get a coffee to go?"

Colleen nodded and went to work making the beverage, keeping up a endless stream of mindless chatter as she worked. "It's such a shame that things didn't work out between you and Senior Constable Buckton. She's better off with you rather than that murderer Angelo Risotto, if you ask me, even if you are both girls."

Joey blinked, stunned. 'Of course Charlie's gone back to being with a man,' she thought bitterly 'Face it, Jo, you were nothing but her little gay experiment.' She quickly put her poker face on as Colleen turned around with her coffee in hand. "Thanks, Colleen." She handed the elderly gossipmonger a five dollar note in exchange for her coffee. "Keep the change," she said over her shoulder as she rushed for the exit. She had to get out of there.

Keeping her head down, she didn't notice Ruby and Xavier approaching the Diner from the beach.

"Was that Joey?" Xavier wondered out loud. Of course it was, otherwise Ruby wouldn't have stopped dead in her tracks the second that she had spotted her.

"I think it was." Oh, this was so not good.

-

"Charlie!" Ruby yelled, almost skidding on the kitchen tiles as she ran into the home she shared with her sister. "Charlie!"

"Ruby?" Charlie came hurtling out of her bedroom, concerned for her sister's welfare. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Joey's back," Ruby panted, out of breath from running all the way home from the Diner. After the suspected Joey sighting, she and Xavier had made their way inside, only to receive confirmation from Colleen that Joey was indeed back and had seemed rather upset when Colleen had mentioned that Charlie and Angelo were together.

Charlie froze, her hands slipping from her sister's arms. Those were two words that she'd never expected to hear. She had tried to cling to Joey's promise that she would be back in three months and maybe then things would be different, but when she didn't hear a word from the younger girl, she honestly thought that she was never going to see her again.

"She knows about you and Angelo."

Feeling numb, Charlie stumbled to the couch and sat down. No, this couldn't be happening. She was still asleep. This was just a bad dream.

"Charlie, did you hear what I said?" Ruby questioned, sitting on the arm of the chair. "Colleen told her-"

"I heard you."

Ruby waited for something more but Charlie just kept quiet, blankly staring at the dormant television.

"So what are you going to do about it?" she finally asked, nudging her sister softly.

"What can I do?" Charlie's voice cracked. "She obviously doesn't want to see me, otherwise she would've told me that she was back."

"You don't know that."

Charlie shrugged and slumped back against the cushions, looking crushed. "How else do you explain it?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, she'd about had it with Charlie's miserable, self-destructive attitude. "Maybe she didn't have the chance too, maybe she was going to come find you before Colleen spilled the beans. You need to go and see her. You owe her an explanation."

Charlie scoffed. "An explanation? What the hell am I going to say? Whatever I do is just going to make her hate me more." _I doubt me showing up on Joey's doorstep being all 'Hi, I thought you weren't coming back so I started dating my male colleague. Sorry about that.' is going to help matters._

For Ruby, this was the last straw. She had seen first hand how well Charlie and Joey worked together, how happy they made each other, and yeah, maybe she had been upset about it at first, but once the shock had worn off, she realized that being with Joey was the best thing that had ever happened to her sister. She wasn't going to let Charlie throw that away again because she was gutless.

"Charlie Buckton!" Charlie sat up ramrod straight in response to the authoritarian tone in her little sister's voice. It was like she was back at the academy. "You get up right now!"

Charlie jumped to her feet, looking a shocked. She'd never known Ruby to be so forceful. It was kind of scary.

"Now you're going to go straight round to Joey's house and apologize to her," Ruby ordered, pushing Charlie along towards the front door.

"What if she doesn't want to talk to me?"

"I don't know! Get down on your knees and beg if you have to. Just fix this."

"Ruby, wait," Charlie whined, baulking as they reached the doorway.

"What now?"

"I need my cars keys."

Ruby wrenched the front door open and pushed her sister out it. "The walk will do you good." She almost softened a little at the confused and almost terrified look on Charlie's face. She felt bad, but she knew Charlie better than Charlie knew herself, and she knew that she needed to be pushed right now or she'd keep putting it off until she accidentally ran into Joey and had no other choice. "And don't come back until you've talked to her. I'm serious, Charlie."

Realizing that there was no use in arguing with Ruby and knowing that her little sister really was right, Charlie sighed and turned around, beginning the long walk to the home of her ex-girlfriend, wondering what the hell she was going to say when she got there.

-

By the time Charlie reached Joey's house, night was starting to fall. Ruby had been right, the walk had done her good. It had helped her get over the shock of hearing that the love of her life was back in town and make a firm decision about what she was going to do about it.

Determined, Charlie unlatched the gate and made her way up the steps to the house. Barely a minute after she'd wrapped her knuckles against the door, it swung open, only to almost immediately swing back shut again once Joey caught sight of who was on the other side.

"I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me," Charlie said, stopping the door from closing completely.

Joey sighed, pressing her head against the doorframe. She'd spent the better part of an hour that afternoon crying over the woman standing in front of her and now she was just angry.

Charlie swallowed hard as Joey glared at her. The time away had done wonders for the younger girl. She looked amazing. "Please?"

"So talk," said Joey, stepping outside and closing the door behind her. The last thing she needed was Brett finding out that Charlie was here.

"You look amazing," Charlie blurted out before she could stop herself. Joey rolled her eyes and turned to make her way back inside. "Wait!" Charlie cried, grabbing her arm to stop her. "I'm sorry, it just slipped out…but you do."

"Charlie…"

Charlie held her hands up placating. "I know. I don't have any right to say that to you."

"No." Joey folded her arms across her stomach. "You don't."

"Why didn't you tell me that you were coming back?"

"I assumed you knew how to read a calendar," she bit out, smiling sarcastically. "Silly me!"

Obviously, Joey wasn't going to make this easy on her. Not that Charlie blamed her. "I-"

"You're dating Angelo," Joey stated bluntly, wondering if Charlie would lie to her again.

"Yes," Charlie whispered.

"Do you love him?"

"No. I love you."

"Oh, this sounds familiar," Joey remarked, shaking her head in disbelief. "So how did you end up with him? Did someone call you gay again and you felt the need to take a flying leap back inside the closet?"

"No! It wasn't like that," Charlie denied. She was telling the truth, she honestly didn't care what people said about her. Not anymore, not after all it had cost her.

But, as Charlie found out when she had done some research, you couldn't just be gay. Oh no, there was a whole other set of labels that came with it. Her head had spun as she trawled through websites, trying to figure out if she would be classified as femme or lipstick, maybe soft butch when she was in uniform, or as something else altogether, and attempting to decipher if she was a top or a bottom or a switchhitter. It was all so complicated and hard, that in the end it didn't seem like it was worth the trouble. Joey was gone and she was never coming back. Why go opening a whole other can of worms like that for no reason.

"So why, Charlie?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"I suppose it's really all my fault," Joey said with a self-decrepitating laugh.

"It is?" Charlie was confused.

Joey nodded. "Yeah, you couldn't handle one night apart before you threw yourself at the nearest willing male, I don't know how I expected you to last three months. Stupid of me, really."

"It wasn't like that," Charlie desperately tried to explain. "I didn't mean for anything to happened with Angelo-"

"Seems to me you do a lot of things without meaning to. You didn't _mean_ to fall for me. You didn't mean to sleep with Hugo. You didn't mean to hurt me."

"I never wanted to hurt you," Charlie said softly, she didn't think she could hate herself any more. Apparently, she had been wrong.

"That's funny, because that's all you ever seem to do," Joey bit out. "Face it, Charlie, we're not good for each other."

"That's not true. I've never been happier than when I was with you."

Joey shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay, so maybe I'm good for you but you sure as hell aren't good for me."

"But I can be, I know I can. Joey, just give me one more chance and I'll spend every day proving it to you."

"I can't. Charlie, I can't be with you."

"But you still love me."

"Of course I do." It pained Joey to admit it but she couldn't bring herself to lie. "But I don't trust you and I don't think I ever will. Not after this."

"Joey, please-" Charlie pleaded tearfully.

"Have you even broken up with Angelo yet?"

Charlie shamefully dropped her gaze to her shoes. Truth was, she hadn't even given her a boyfriend a second thought since her sister had announced that Joey was back in town.

"I'm guessing that's a no." Joey glared at her with cold, black eyes. "Go home to your boyfriend, Charlie."

Before Charlie could utter another word, Joey was gone; hidden behind the wooden door that was being shut in her face.

-

"You didn't have to wait up for me," Charlie said, walking into the kitchen to find Ruby sitting at the table, scribbling in a notebook. After her confrontation with Joey, Charlie had taken a walk along the beach to try and clear her head…and to give herself some time to stop crying.

"I wasn't waiting for you," Ruby scoffed, closing the notebook she'd been aimlessly doodling in. "I was doing homework. But since we're both up, how'd it go?" She leaned forward, eager for gossip.

"She hates me." Charlie slumped into the chair opposite her little sister. "I don't blame her."

"I'm sure she doesn't _really_ hate you," Ruby said, trying to be sympathetic.

"She said that all I ever did was hurt her."

Ruby cringed on Charlie's behalf. The truth always hurt the worst. "She has a point."

"What?" Charlie yelped with a wounded expression. Ruby was supposed to be trying to make her feel better, not worse.

"Look at it from her point of view. You got her kicked out of her home, led her on and then when she made a move, told her that it was all in her head and avoided her to the point where she felt like he had no choice but to leave here, which lead to her almost being killed by the guy that raped her. Then you kissed her, tried to pretend it didn't happen and bailed on her the day after her attempted murder. Came back to tell her that you had feelings for her but nothing was ever going to happen between the two of you, thus breaking her heart and leading to her moving out for the second time within a week." Ruby paused to catch her breath before continuing her laundry list of Charlie's misdeeds.

"Then you chased after her, told her you loved her and wanted to be with her, moved her back in here. But at the first sign of trouble, you cheated on her with Hugo, proceeded to lie about it until she figured it out for herself, forcing her to move out of here for the third time. Chased her down as she was about to leave town and instead of delivering the impassioned speech she needed to hear, the best you could come up with was telling her that she forgot her iPod." Ruby rolled her eyes. She'd very nearly smacked Charlie upside the head, the day she'd revealed what had gone down on the dock. "Then after three months of pining away for you at sea, imaging that you were doing the same for her, I assume. She comes back to find out that you've moved on with a man. Sorry, Charlz, but I'm totally on Team Joey on this one," she concluded. "She deserves so much better than that."

"When you put it all together like that it sounds really bad." Charlie muttered, feeling sick when faced with the reality of all the suffering that she had put the girl she loved through. "I officially suck."

"Not going to get any argument from me."

"What am I going to do, Rubes?" Charlie looked up at her little sister with watery blue eyes, pleading with her to find a way to make it all better. It was times like this when it was easy to forget which one of them was the adult in the relationship.

"You can break up with Angelo for a start." Honestly, nothing would make Ruby happier than seeing Joey and Charlie back together and Angelo out of the picture.

"I can't."

Ruby couldn't believe her ears. "Why not?" How was she supposed to help her sister when Charlie couldn't be bothered to make the effort to help herself?

"Because I don't want to be alone."

Ruby couldn't help but soften at her sister's pathetic confession. "You won't be alone, Charlz, you'll always have me."

"Until I drive you away as well."

"That's never going to happen. You're my sister, I have to love you…No matter how much of a dumbass you can be."

"Hey!"

Ruby shrugged and moved around the kitchen gathering the necessary supplies. "Now, tonight and only tonight, we get to have a pity party," Ruby said, setting an open container of ice cream and a spoon down on the table in front of her pouting older sister. "But as of tomorrow, you're getting no sympathy from me until you get your ass in gear and do something to fix this."

Charlie nodded and stared glumly at the ice cream sitting in front of her. "I'm an awful person, I don't deserve ice cream." Of course, that didn't stop her from digging into it a second later.

-

The next morning, somehow the route of Charlie's morning run had changed without her really noticing and lead her straight back to Joey's house. She'd been intending to swing by later to apologize but once she saw that Joey was out in the yard, bringing in the washing, she decided that there was no time like the present.

But all thoughts off apologizing were forced out of her head as soon as Charlie saw the For Sale sign that was standing by the fence.

"You're selling the house?"

Joey rolled her eyes at Charlie's sudden appearance and carelessly tossed the last item of dry clothing into the washing basket. "Yes, not that it's really any of your business. Brett and I are going to split the money and go our separate ways. He's going to move to the city."

"And what about you?"

Joey grimaced at the question, she knew that she'd be perfectly justified in not giving Charlie an answer but she couldn't find it within herself to be quite that cruel. "Between what I made on the long haul job and what I'll get from the sale of the house I'll have enough to get myself a pretty decent boat. I thought I'd head up north. Queensland, maybe."

"You're going to leave town?" _But you just got back._

"Why the hell would I want to stay?" she snapped. "There's nothing left here for me except bad memories." She sighed at the stricken look on her ex-girlfriends face and softened. "Why are you here, Charlie?"

Charlie swallowed back tears and tried to focus on the speech she'd mentally prepared that morning. "I came to apologize. You were right in what you said last night. I hurt you. A lot. And I'm sorry. It's not fair that you got hurt because just I'm such a disaster area when it comes to relationships. Ruby says that I'm emotionally retarded," she finished with a little laugh.

"That's a polite way of putting it," said Joey, stony-faced. Charlie couldn't disguise the hurt that flashed across her face and it made Joey feel guilty, despite herself. Hurting Charlie wasn't making herself feel any better. She bit her lip and dropped her arms from where they'd been defensively crossed across her stomach. "Thank you, for the apology," she said, managing a small but genuine smile for her ex.

Charlie nodded and grinned back, encouraged by Joey's smile.

They stood awkwardly in silence, Charlie waiting for Joey to continue the conversation and Joey waiting for Charlie to end it so she could get on with what she had to do that day.

"Is there anything else you wanted?" Joey finally prompted.

Charlie started nervously fiddling with her hands. "I thought that maybe we could hang out, get some coffee or something, you could tell me about your trip," she said with so much over the top enthusiasm that she was inwardly cringing.

Joey looked at her blankly, struggling to try and understand how the older woman could possibly think that was a good idea. "Are you serious?"

"I missed you." Charlie shrugged helplessly. "We can still be friends, can't we?" she practically begged.

Joey stared at her with even more disbelief that she had the last time that Charlie had asked her that question, in that hotel room so long ago, before shaking her head and turning her back on her ex-girlfriend. "Goodbye, Charlie," she said coldly over her shoulder, only stopping to pick up the laundry on her way back into the house.

"I honestly never wanted for anything to happen between me and Angelo!" Charlie said suddenly, stopping Joey in her tracks. "There was just this attraction between us that was hard to fight."

"Did you even try?" Joey turned slowly, her demeanour positively frosty.

"You know that day on the dock, I was so close to giving in. If you had pushed just a little harder, I probably would've stayed," she revealed. "But I left and then spent three months regretting it. Now I'm glad because apparently, you would've just ended up dumping me for Angelo anyway."

"No," Charlie gasped, feeling sick. How could Joey think that? "I wouldn't have. This never would have happened if you'd stayed!"

Joey raised an eyebrow. "So this is my fault now?"

"That's not what I meant," said Charlie, verging on tears and cursing her inability to say the right thing. "Please Joey, I'll do anything to make this up to you. I swear."

"Anything?"

Charlie nodded, the barest flicker of hope sparking up in her. "Anything."

"Then stay the hell away from me."

And with that Joey turned her back on Charlie for the second time that day.

-

"Good morning, sunshine," Ruby chirped, swanning into the kitchen like she hadn't slept in until midday. She frowned at Charlie who was sitting at the table glaring at her cup of coffee. "Or not. What did that mug ever do to you?"

"What?" Charlie mumbled, too distracted by her thoughts to properly absorb her sister's ramblings. "Nothing."

Ruby bit her lip and leaned her back against the counter, observing the older brunette's depressed form. "Let me guess, you saw Joey?"

Charlie nodded.

"And it didn't go well?" Ruby ventured a guess.

"In a word; no."

"What happened?"

"I apologized, she accepted and then stupid me, I had to push it."

"Oh god, what did you do now?" Ruby groaned.

"I may have asked if we could hang out and have coffee together."

"Too soon, Charlie!"

"I know that now!" Charlie snapped. She'd known it the second it had left her mouth. "Anyway, she didn't react very well to that idea, so I kind of blurted out that-"

"Let me guess," Ruby interrupted. "You just couldn't fight your attraction to Angelo?" She'd heard Charlie say that so many times, in defence of her relationship with the man who'd murdered Martha's husband, that it had become burned into her brain.

Charlie nodded, feeling ashamed. "And then I…may have implied that it never would have happened if she hadn't left."

"Charlie!" Ruby cried, burying her face in her hands. "I can't believe you blamed her for your mistake. That's really messed up."

"I know it is. And that's why I've come to the decision that I have to let her go."

"Wait, what?" Ruby stuttered. "I thought you loved her."

"I do. But she asked me to leave her alone. After everything I put Joey through, I figure that the least I can do is honour that request."

"You're just giving up?"

"It's not that simple. Ruby, Joey and I were barely together for two weeks…"

"So?"

"So, look at how much I've already hurt her and it's like every time I go near her I just keep doing more damage. You were right, I don't deserve her."

"I didn't mean it like that, I was just trying to get you to realize what a bitch you were to her." This wasn't going at all like Ruby had imagined it. Charlie was supposed to dump Angelo, win Joey back and then they could all be happy again. "Please tell me that you're going to break up with Angelo, at least."

"…I'm not."

"Are you kidding me?" Ruby yelped in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Because." Because it was convenient. Because it was better than being alone. Because it hurt less to have people hating you and whispering about you behind your back because you're dating a murderer, than it did just because you were in love with a girl. "Things with Angelo are…easy, we have a lot in common."

"But you don't love him."

"And he doesn't love me either. It's better this way, he can't hurt me and I can't hurt him." Charlie sighed at the disapproval that was written all over her Ruby's face. "You'll understand when you're older, Rubes."

"No, I won't," Ruby said firmly. "It doesn't matter how old I get, I'll never understand settling for someone that you're not in love with."

"She doesn't want me, Ruby! What am I supposed to do?" Charlie finally cried, frustrated by her sister's accusatory tone.

"Well, I'd tell you to fight for her but we all know how that turned out." Ruby shook her head in disgust. She didn't understand why Charlie had to make things so hard on herself. "I'm going to Nicole's."

-

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_Come on, nine in the corner pocket,_ Joey was fully focused on making the shot. She liked pool, it was simple yet required a lot of focus. She was able to block out the noise of beeping pinball machine and patrons of the juice bar, all that mattered was making this next shot.

Joey had been wary of running into Charlie again but she had to get out of the house, Brett was doing her head in. He'd seen Charlie leaving that morning and hadn't stopped ranting about that 'dyke cop' since.

Sure, there were plenty of places that she could've gone to, to play pool, but the lure of freshly squeezed juice was too hard to resist. After spending three months on a ship, drinking nothing but concentrated juice, the fresh orange and pineapple juice tasted like manna from heaven.

Don't get her wrong, she was still glad that she had gone on the long haul but she would never do it again. If only because of the food. Joey swore that if she ever saw another tin of spaghetti or pack of microwavable macaroni and cheese, it'd be too soon.

"Joey!" Ruby exclaimed happily, having walked into the Surf Club to find one of the girls she'd just spent the last half hour ranting about to Nicole.

"Ruby, hey-" Joey barely had time to get out before she was nearly knocked off her feet by the teenager's overly enthusiastic hug.

"Uh, Rubes?" Nicole laughed, gently taking Ruby by the arms and trying to pull her off Joey. "I think she needs to breathe."

"Oh right." Ruby released Joey and stepped back, smiling sheepishly. Even she was surprised by how happy she was to see the older girl. "Sorry, I'm just happy to see you."

"It's fine," Joey chuckled. "I'm happy to see you too." She nodded to Nicole. "Hey, Nic."

Nicole smiled at her and gestured to the table. "You play?"

"A little." Joey smirked, sensing a challenge.

"Best of three, loser buys the drinks?" Nicole suggested, eager to test out her skills. "Ruby can referee."

"I'm game."

-

It seemed as though they were evenly matched, each having taken a game a piece, while the teenagers filled Joey in on what she had missed while she'd been away.

"So since dad confessed about what he'd done, it's not like there's going to be a trial. Charlie's been-" Nicole stopped mid-sentence, realizing that she'd just said the dreaded C-word that they had all managed to so far avoid.

"It's okay, you can say Charlie's name around me," Joey assured the girls. If there was anything that the numerous and varied tragedies visited upon in her in her short life had taught Joey, it was to roll with the punches. She wasn't going to get upset at the mere mention of her ex's name.

"I'm really sorry about her, Joey," Ruby apologized on her big sister's behalf. "I mean, I love her but she's an idiot."

"Just so you know, if you're looking to date someone to get back at Charlie, I'm totally open to it."

"Nicole!" Ruby squealed.

"What? I'm single and have officially sworn off guys. Who knows, we might make a good couple."

Joey chuckled, glancing at Ruby who looked extremely alarmed at the idea. "Thanks but no thanks, Nic. That's not really my style."

Nicole shrugged, not offended at all by the rejection while Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of Joey and Nicole was just too weird for her to handle.

Shaking her head in bemusement, Joey focused her attention back to the pool table. Her next shot would be a very difficult one to make with the cue ball pressed snugly up against the bumper. She undid the leather cuff, that she had been wearing around her left wrist ever since she'd picked it up in a two dollar shop in Tasmania, so she could get her hand to lay as flat as possible against the felt.

"Hey, you've got a tattoo!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing at the band of stars that had previously been hidden by the wrist cuff.

"More than one." Joey smirked as her shot went wild and missed her target by miles.

"Oh yeah?"

While Nicole stepped up to take her shot, Joey gathered her dark hair up in one hand to show Ruby the Southern Cross tattoo that she had on the back of her neck.

"Wow." Ruby was suitably impressed.

"What's the deal with sailors and tattoos anyway?" Nicole asked, having sunk two more of her balls and preparing to put away a third.

"Someone once said that a sailor without a tattoo is like a ship without grog: not seaworthy," Joey explained, smiling. "Most of them have specific meanings."

It may be an old tradition but Joey had always loved hearing her father explain the meaning of the numerous tattoos that he had accumulated over his years in the Navy and the history behind them.

"So what do these mean?" Nicole asked, abandoning the game to trace her finger lightly across the small nautical stars inked onto Joey's skin. Tattoos were so hot.

"Well, these stars represent guidance and protection at sea." Joey chose to stick strictly to the strictly nautical meanings of the stars. "Traditionally, deckhands are supposed to get a rope around their wrist but…well, it was ugly, so I went with stars instead."

"Did they hurt?"

Hurt was such a subjective term. "Not really. I'm actually planning on going into the city in a couple of days to get another one done."

"Can we come?" Nicole quickly asked, excited at the prospect of getting out of the small town. "I've been wanting to get one forever."

"You're over eighteen, right?" Joey checked. The last thing she needed was to be accused of corrupting a minor.

"I'm totally legal," Nicole assured her.

"Then sure, I don't see why not."

Nicole grinned and took her next shot, easily sinking the eight ball. "Looks like the drinks are on you."

-

Standing in front of her full length mirror, Ruby examined her outfit, the third she'd tried on, with a critical eye. She didn't know why she was being so picky…Well, okay, maybe she did. They were going into the city, maybe she'd meet a cute guy there. Yeah, that was it.

Shaking her head at how silly she was being, Ruby grabbed her purse off the bed and, pausing to hope that Charlie wasn't in a inquisitive mood today, headed out of her room.

_Oh gross! Him._ She thought in disgust, seeing Angelo and Charlie sitting on the couch, drinking coffee together. Ruby almost laughed when Angelo put his arm around Charlie; her sister couldn't have looked more uncomfortable if she'd tried.

Ruby honestly didn't get why Charlie was doing this to herself. Seeing her like this when she'd seen first hand just how happy she had been with Joey…

_Arriving home from spending the afternoon with Xavier, Ruby paused in the doorway at the sound of Charlie's uncontrolled laughter. It was such a rare and unfamiliar sound that it actually made her stop in her tracks. Stealthily, she peeked around the wall and couldn't help but smile at the sight before her._

_"Charlie, I need it!" Joey laughed, playfully wrestling on the floor with Charlie, in an effort to reclaim her beloved beanie. "It keeps my ears warm!"_

_"Nuh-huh." Charlie childishly stuck her tongue out and managed to hold the woollen hat out of her girlfriend's reach._

_"Come on, I'm going to be late for work. They'll leave without me."_

_"Good." Charlie beamed. "Then you'll have to spend all night with me." She couldn't believe that Joey had to spend the last night they had together before Leah and VJ were due back, working. She could think of so many better things that they could be doing._

_"Charlie," Joey said firmly, pining the older woman to the carpet. It wasn't that she even wanted to leave Charlie. Ever. But she had to go to work. She'd already neglected her professional life too much over the past few weeks and she knew that she already had a reputation for being unreliable after dropping out of the job on the Julianne at the last minute. If she got fired from this job, Joey knew that the chances of getting work on another trawler would be slim to none._

_"Fine, you can have it," Charlie relented._

_"Thank you."_

_"On one condition." She paused and looked up at her girlfriend with darkening eyes. "Kiss me."_

_Joey rolled her eyes dramatically. "If I must," she sighed, leaning down and pressing her lips against Charlie's. As the kiss intensified, Charlie moaned and brought her hands down to cradle Joey's head. "HA!" Joey exclaimed, drawing back and snatching the beanie out of Charlie's hand. "I win!"_

_"Hey! That's not fair!" Charlie protested. "You cheated."_

_"Poor baby." Joey pulled the beanie down onto her head. Charlie laughed and pulled it down further until it completely cover her eyes._

_"Awww, you look so cute," she cooed, sitting up to lightly kiss Joey's pouting lips._

_"That's so not funny," Joey sulked, pushing the beanie back up and checking her watch. "Oh my god, I have to go, I'm going to be so late." She cupped Charlie's cheek and quickly kissed her again before hopping up off her. "I'll see you in the morning."_

_"Hi Ruby," she said distractedly as she rushed past on her way. "Bye Ruby."_

_"Bye," Ruby chuckled, then turned to her big sister who was still sitting on the carpet, grinning like a fool. "Having fun?"_

_Charlie blushed and smiled shyly. "Yeah," she admitted, looking straight at Ruby and not feeling the slightest bit ashamed. "I am."_

_"I'm glad." And it's true, she was. Once the initial shock had worn off and she had actually seen them together, Ruby could honestly say that she was happy...no, she was ecstatic for them. Sure, she still had her concerns about Charlie freaking out and doing something to hurt Joey. It was **Charlie**, Ruby'd be crazy if she didn't. But she truly believed now that Joey and Charlie had something special. She never seen Charlie so open before; seeing her laugh and goof around and be affectionate with Joey while smiling like an idiot, it was like watching a completely different person to the tough, icy woman that Ruby had affectionately nicknamed Robocop. Ruby decided that she definitely liked this new Charlie._

"Hey." Charlie had turned and noticed her sister hovering in the doorway. "Rubes, I'm glad you're here. Angelo was thinking that we could all have dinner together tonight."

Ruby almost gagged at the thought of having to play happy families with Angelo. She wished that Charlie would just accept that she was never going to approve of them being together and get rid of the idiot. "I'm going out."

"Where?"

"I'm going into the City."

"What now? Alone?" Charlie jumped up and approached her sister. "It'll be dark before you get back."

"I'm not going to be alone, Nicole's coming-"

"Oh, well if Nicole's going," Charlie remarked sarcastically, cutting Ruby off before she could get to the important part. "No way, Ruby. You're not going."

"If you'd let me finish, you would know that Joey's taking us," Ruby said, delighting in the way Charlie's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "She's old enough to take care of us, right? I mean, she was old enough for you to-"

"Ruby!" Charlie hissed, glaring at her sister. She couldn't believe what a brat she was being right now.

"Uh, who's Joey?" Angelo piped up, wondering who this person could be that the mention of their name was able to get such a strong reaction out of his girlfriend.

"She's...um...I," Charlie stuttered. Joey was a topic that had never been broached between the two of them. Angelo knew that she had been through a bad break up but he had no idea that it had been with a woman.

Ruby smirked while Charlie floundered. "I think I'll leave you guys to it." She briefly squeezed Charlie's shoulders, in a subtle show of support, as she flitted out the door.

If her big sister had any brains at all, she'd use the practically gift wrapped opportunity she'd just been handed, to break up with Angelo once and for all.

Smiling happily, Ruby headed for the bus stop.

-

"Oh my God!" Nicole exclaimed as they stepped out of the tattoo parlour and into the cool evening air. "That was so cool! I want to get another one."

Joey chuckled, remembering that had pretty much been her reaction the first time she'd had one done. "Maybe you should let that one heal first."

"It looks okay, right?" Nicole asked, twisting awkwardly to try and see for herself. She had gotten a small butterfly at the small of her back. Initially she had been worried about it looking like a tramp stamp but the tattoo artist had assured her that it was very tasteful.

"It looks great," Ruby assured her, feeling a little left out that she was the only one without ink.

"Yours does too."

"Charlie is going to kill me when she finds out," Ruby said, lifting her shirt and poking at the swollen skin around her new bellybutton piercing. Nicole had convinced her to get it, not that Ruby had been too resistant to the idea.

"Ah, no," Joey corrected her. "She'll kill me and then she'll kill you."

"So the swallow," Nicole changed the subject, throwing her arms over both of her friends shoulders as she walked in between them. "Is that one of your special sailor tats or do you just really like birds?"

"Uh, the first one," said Joey, grimacing at the stinging on her ankle. She really should've thought ahead and not worn her hi-tops. "You get a swallow to signify that you've sailed five thousand nautical miles.

"Why a swallow? It seems a little…girly." Ruby couldn't imagine a bunch of hairy, manly sailors with pretty little birds all over their skin.

"Because they always find their way home," Joey said wistfully. She'd almost smacked the tattoo artist, a heavy set man called Iggy, when he was blabbing on about swallows signifying love and loyalty because they were the only bird that mated for life. She already had one regrettable tattoo signifying love, that she would never ever speak of, she didn't need another one.

-

"Hey, I didn't know you could surf," Ruby said as Joey approached them, soaking wet with her board in hand. She and Nicole had been strolling along the beach when they had spotted Joey out on the water, they had nothing better to do, so they'd mutually decided to sit down and wait for her to finish.

"Yeah, well." Joey stuck her board into the sand and sat on the towel next to the sunbathing girls. "Growing up in this town there isn't much else to do. Especially when you don't have many friends. I used to spend all my free time either surfing, fishing or out on my dad's boat."

"My god, you're pale," Nicole marvelled at her friend's ivory skin. "Are you sure you're not some kind of vampire?"

Joey looked down at her arms, cursing her genetic legacy. She supposed that she should be happy that she hadn't inherited her mother's red hair like Brett had. "I'm pretty sure I'm not. I just don't tan." She shrugged and rung out the excess water from her hair. "I don't even burn really."

"Lucky," Ruby mumbled, remembering the time she had fell asleep on the beach and had spent the next few days resembling a boiled lobster.

"The pale goth look is so in right now," Nicole said, sounding very informed. "It's all because of those stupid Twilight books."

"They're not that bad," Ruby said defensively, remembering that she had been a fan for about two seconds.

"They sparkle like they've been bathed in body glitter, Ruby!" Nicole shuddered in disgust at the thought. She been lured into watching the movie by the promise of hot guys. She was never going to make that mistake again. "Joey, come on, back me up here. Twilight's lame, right?"

Joey grimaced. "I've never heard of it." Pop culture really wasn't Joey's strong suit. She preferred to be outside and on the water instead of being cooped up inside reading or watching tv.

Nicole gaped at her, like she'd just told them that she'd given birth to a baby dinosaur, then laughed. "You're like an alien or something. I love it!"

Joey smiled uncertainly. "Thanks...I think."

"Don't worry, it was a total compliment." Nicole touched Joey's arm reassuringly and Joey didn't miss the way Ruby's eyes narrowed at the friendly gesture.

_Interesting_ she thought, filling it away for later use. "So did you come down here for a swim?"

"Are you crazy?" Ruby squealed at the idea. "There are sharks out there!"

"There are always sharks out there," Joey reminded her, smirking with amusement. Despite spending her life around the water, she had never been afraid of sharks. In fact, there was a long period of time when she was a child when Jaws had been her favourite movie. "It's where they live."

"And that's totally cool." Ruby respected the sharks right to live freely in their natural habitat. She just didn't want to become an afternoon snack for one. "Just as long as they don't come nibbling on my legs."

"I'm with her," Nicole said, pointing at Ruby.

Joey nodded acceptingly. "I get it." And she did, but she also knew that you never got anywhere if you let fear stop you from doing things. "So if you're not here to swim then what are you doing here?"

"I had to get out of that house," said Nicole, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "Jai was bitching at me about something that Trey did. As if I even care! Don't they get that me breaking up with him means that I don't give a stuff what he does? I think you've got the right idea, Joey. Guys are so not worth all this drama."

-

Charlie rubbed at her temples, she'd been concentrating so hard on the map in front of her, that the lines were starting to blur together. It was useless though, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Road maps she could read without a problem but oceanographic maps were a different matter altogether.

She supposed that she could ask Angelo for help but she really didn't want to involve him in this. The truth was she shouldn't even be involved in this but she needed the distraction. Joey had been back in town for almost a month now and that situation hadn't gotten any better. She hadn't even seen her ex after the last confrontation that they'd had. Charlie knew that her little sister was disappointed in her for not dumping Angelo and chasing after Joey, but how could she after he'd broken up with May to be with her. It wouldn't be fair to him.

So Ruby was avoiding her and spending more and more time with Joey and Charlie could honestly say that she didn't like it one bit. She was jealous of her little sister, it was ridiculous!

She looked up when there was a knock at the back door and, for the first time in three weeks, Charlie found herself face to face with her ex-girlfriend. She froze, mouth hanging wide open. Was it time? Was Joey there to see her? Did she realize how much she missed her and want her back?

"Hi, um, is Ruby home?" Joey asked, awkwardly shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Oh…" Charlie mentally berated herself for even thinking that Joey would be there for her. "No, she's still at school. She got a detention."

Joey nodded acceptingly and turned to go.

"She should be home soon, you can come in and wait…if you want."

Joey paused, she'd be lying if she said that there wasn't a part of her that wanted to turn around deliver a verbal bitchslap to her ex and then leave but there was an even bigger part of her that had missed the older woman's company like crazy. "If it's okay with you," she said softly, turning around and stepping into the kitchen of the house that she had called a home for a few all too short weeks.

"It's fine. Do you want a coffee?"

"No," Joey replied quickly. Sitting there with Charlie, drinking the same kind of coffee out of the same mugs that they used too every morning when they were together, while they both awkwardly tried to make small talk was not something she wanted to do. "So what's up with the sudden interest in geography?" she asked instead, alluding to the maps that were scattered across the table.

"Oh, it's work." Charlie sat back down.

"A case?"

"Not really, it's just an idea that I had. Well, more of a theory, really."

"And how's that working out?"

"It'd be going better if I knew how to read these maps properly," Charlie confessed, thrilled that Joey was actually speak to her again.

Joey sighed and sat in the chair next to Charlie, gesturing for her to hand her the map that she'd been pouring over. "Let me see."

Charlie happily handed the map over.

"What are the red dots for?" Joey asked, frowning at the small cluster.

"They mark the areas where the shark attacks took place, or where we think shark attacks took place. It's up to seven now."

"Yeah, I heard that another diver was attacked. Is it true he lost a leg?"

"And an arm. This is weird, right? I mean, there hadn't been a shark attack in the Bay for the last ten years and now there's been seven in the past six months. It's like something out there is making them more aggressive or something. Is that even possible?"

"Well, environmental change or pollution can trigger unusual behaviour in sharks."

"Pollution like toxic waste?"

"Yeah, that could cause it." She looked up from the map and narrowed her eyes at Charlie, trying to get a read on what she was thinking. "What's your theory?"

"There was toxic waste at the development site, we know that now, it had to have gone somewhere-"

"You think that they dumped it in the ocean to get rid of the evidence," Joey caught on quickly.

"Yeah." Charlie smiled at her. "What is it?" she asked, wondering what was causing Joey's deep frown.

"I don't know, it might be nothing. This stuff at the development site, it happened around December, right?"

"That's right."

"It's just…one day out on the boat, Robbo was mouthing off about being able to buy himself a new car for Christmas because he got paid triple time for dumping some barrels in the middle of the night."

Charlie sat up ramrod straight. "Did he say what was in them?"

Joey shook her head. "He didn't get a chance to, Gibbsy overheard him and went off at him. It's only time I ever saw him get really angry at Robbo. But basically, from what I can tell, what was happening was they were taking the barrels out in the empty fish hold during the night shifts, then dumping them and it wasn't just the one boat either."

"Wait." Charlie leaned forward trying to get her head around all of this. "So you're saying that the developers might have paid Lou Du Bono to use his boats to secretly dump toxic waste in the Bay?" She had to admit that she was a little gob smacked, from what she'd heard about the man he'd been a highly respected member of the community.

"I'm saying that you don't become a multi-millionaire from running a legit fishing operation, no matter how good business is. There was all sorts of dodgy stuff going on out on his boats, and he knew all about it." Joey knew that things weren't quite right when she was working on that trawler but she was just so happy to have the job that she ignored it.

"I don't suppose Robbo mentioned where they dumped the barrels?"

"No, he didn't get that far but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out." Joey picked up the map and pointed to an area where most of the attacks were centered around. "There's an underwater cave here, my dad used to take me diving there all the time. Not many people know about it, if you wanted to hide something then it'd be a pretty good place to do it."

"I didn't know that you could scuba dive."

"Yeah, well I guess that there's a lot that you don't know about me." Joey hadn't said it to be hurtful, she was merely stating a fact, but her words still stung Charlie like a slap to the face.

Charlie exhaled deeply and rubbed a hand across her face, trying to take all this in. What was originally just a theory she was working on to keep herself occupied was now an all too real possibility and the full implications of what it would mean if she was right were now weighing down on her.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," Charlie said slowly, weighing her options carefully. "I can't do anything without solid proof. The town's economy is suffering enough as it is, if even the slightest hint gets out that there's toxic waste in the water, I don't think it'll survive."

Joey nodded, she knew that Charlie was right. Summer Bay was dependant on tourism and the fishing industry for it's survival. The tourist trade had already taken a massive battering thanks to the shark attacks and if there was even the remote possibility that the water was contaminated with toxic waste, commercial fishing would grind to a complete halt. Jobs would be lost and lives would be ruined.

"So let's get some proof."

Charlie frowned. "Sorry?"

"Let's take a boat out and I can dive down and take a look. If there's nothing there then it's no harm done, right?" Joey said, getting a little excited. It felt nice to be helping Charlie on a case that she wasn't the victim in.

"What, now?"

"Sooner the better, right?"

"I don't know, Joey-"

"I know you, this is going to drive you crazy until you find out for sure. Look, we have a couple of hours of daylight left, let's just get a boat and go out there."

Charlie sighed heavily, while she glad that Joey was actually talking to her and was even more thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with her, she didn't want Joey putting herself at risk. "Joey, this stuff causes cancer, I don't want to risk you being exposed to it." Unconsciously, she reached across the table and covered Joey's hand with her own.

"Charlie," Joey began gently, pulling out of her ex's grasp. "I've been living in this town for my entire life, chances are I already have been."

Thoughtfully chewing on her bottom lip, Charlie looked at Joey, who looked more determined that she'd ever seen her. "Okay," she agreed reluctantly. But there was still the matter of the boat. If only the Blaxland wasn't out of commission for repairs…really the only options were getting Angelo to take them out on the police launch or asking Hugo to take him out on his boat. Leaving Charlie to try and figure out which would be less awkward.

"Um, would it be okay…if Hugo took us out on his boat?" She finally asked, bracing herself for Joey's reaction. "It's just that I can't take the police boat out while I'm not on duty and even if I was there'd be a ton of paperwork and forms to fill out. Plus Hugo already has all the diving equipment on his boat, so it'd be easier." And Charlie had to admit that she'd feel a hell of a lot better with an experienced diver on board in case anything went wrong. "I totally get if you don't-"

"Charlie, shut up," Joey cut her off, softly. "It's fine, just as long as he keeps his mouth shut."

"I'll make sure of it."

-

It hadn't taken much convincing to get Hugo to take them out on his boat but now that they were out on the open water, Charlie was beginning to have second thoughts about this whole thing. Sure, she was happy to be spending time with Joey again but she just wished that didn't include sending the girl she loved down into shark infested waters to check for leaking barrels of toxic waste.

She looked at Joey and couldn't help almost swooning over how confident and at home she looked at the wheel of the boat. If anything happened to her down there, Charlie would never forgive herself.

"You really think I'm going to be needing that?" Joey asked, glancing away from the water in front of her to look at Hugo who was loading a spear gun.

"Can't be too careful," Hugo said, setting the spear gun to the side and proceeding to check the rest of the equipment. "It's dangerous down there. I really think that I should be the one to go."

"I agree," Charlie chimed in. She'd much rather it be Hugo putting himself in harm's way.

Joey shook her head and killed the engine. "With that cut on your leg? You'd be shark bait," she said, gesturing to the bandage on Hugo's leg, that fresh blood was already starting to seep through, and taking a moment to enjoy the mental image of him being torn apart by a school of sharks. "Besides, the entrance to the cave is kind of tricky to find if you don't know what you're looking for."

Hugo unsheathed his dive knife, checking the sharpness of the six inch titanium blade with his thumb. "Are you sure that there's nothing I can say to convince you to change your mind?"

"Yes."

"That's unfortunate." Hugo sighed heavily and, in one fluid movement, grabbed Joey by the back of her neck and drove the blade deep into her gut.

-

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

_"That's unfortunate." Hugo sighed heavily and, in one fluid movement, grabbed Joey by the back of her neck and drove the blade deep into her gut. _

"What the hell are you doing?" Charlie screamed, springing to her feet. Her hand automatically went for her sidearm and of course came up with nothing but air. Her second thought was to try and tackle Hugo but that was quickly put to a stop when she noticed the loaded spear gun he had trained on her, the harpoon looking wicked sharp and deadly. She couldn't help Joey if she was dead.

"I'm doing my job!" Hugo yelled back as Joey dropped to her knees behind him, the knife still lodged firmly in her stomach. "You think I wanted to do this? I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice!" Charlie was literally shaking with rage. She wanted to rip his arms off and beat him to death with his own severed limbs, but as long as Hugo was holding that spear gun on her, she was virtually powerless and the only weapon left she had was her words. She had to try and talk him down.

"I'm being paid a lot of money to protect this dump site-"

"Enough to justify murder?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Hugo spat. He didn't want this. If only he hadn't been so clumsy and dropped that oxygen tank on his leg that morning. If only Joey hadn't been so stubborn about letting him dive instead of her. This all could have been avoided. "And it's not just about the money. Do you know what I would do to me if I let this secret get out?"

Charlie noticed movement behind Hugo, Joey was dragging herself across the deck. "Do you really think you're going to get away with this? It's not like nobody knows that we're out here with you. What are you going to do, murder Alf and Xavier too?" she asked, stalling for time and trying to keep his attention on her while Joey did whatever it was she was planning on doing.

"I won't need to. See, I've got it all planned out. Poor Joey here got attacked by a shark on her dive and you jumped in to help her before I could stop you," Hugo explained, looking more deranged by the second. Everything was unravelling before his very eyes. "It's all very Romeo and Juliet…or in your case, I suppose it'd be more like Juliet and Juliet." He laughed at his own lame joke. "The doomed lovers dying together. Anyway, since the radio isn't working and there's no phone reception out here, I'll have no choice but to return to the Bay for help…they'll never find your bodies."

"You were never attacked by a shark, were you?" Charlie growled, her jaw clenched tightly. Her eyes flicked back to Joey, who was struggling to load a flare gun she'd pulled from the cabinet where the emergency supplies were kept. _Oh, good girl_ she thought proudly.

Hugo smirked and shook his head. There was no point in holding back now, it's not like Charlie would be able to blab. "No, I got that wound tying up loose ends."

"You killed Lou…" Charlie breathed, putting it together. The timing fit…how could they not have suspected it? Angelo had been so focused on Irene and then Donna as suspects, he'd never even considered anybody else.

"You know, I had a plan when I came here. It was a good one too. Seduce the local cop, make sure I'd have the inside scoop, keep you from getting too close. Then you decided that you'd rather be with a dyke so that all went to hell…but at least I got a good lay out of it."

Charlie's skin crawled at the thought of him touching her. It was almost enough to make her vomit then and there.

Finally, Joey managed to load the flare cartridge into place and snap the chamber shut. She knew that she only had one shot and had to make it count. Pushing the searing pain in her gut aside, she pulled herself into a sitting position. She waited until Charlie's eyes were back on her and mouthed "Close your eyes." Charlie looked confused but did as she was told.

"Hey asshole!" she yelled. Startled, Hugo spun around just in time to catch the bright red flare square in the chest.

He howled in pain as the intense heat of the flare started to melt his flesh and his shirt caught alight. The spear gun he'd been holding clattered harmlessly to the deck as he used his hands to ineffectively try to beat out the flames. All it seemed to do is spread the fire.

Charlie quickly ducked out of the way as the flaming man stumbled towards her. Blinded by the flare and in a tremendously excruciating amount of pain, Hugo flailed, screaming, around the deck until his shins hit the side of the boat and he toppled overboard, hitting the water with a splash. Unfortunately for him, the water did nothing to extinguish the flare embedded in his chest.

As soon as Hugo was off the boat, Charlie fell to her knees at Joey's side. She knew that she should've tried to pull Hugo back on board, so that he could be brought to justice through the courts. But he had hurt Joey, as far as she was concerned the sharks could have him.

"Me saving your life," Joey joked, trying to smile. "This is a change, huh?"

Charlie's laugh came out sounding more like a sob. "Yeah, thanks for that," she said, frantically pawing at Joey's clammy face, desperate to reassure herself that she was really still there. She didn't think it was possible but the younger girl was even paler than usual.

"Eh, I figured I owed you," Joey said flippantly. She swallowed hard and looked down.

"You know, I always thought I'd die at sea," she said morosely, resigned to her fate. "Didn't think it'd be because I got stabbed though."

"Joey-"

"It's okay. I'm not afraid."

"Stop it," Charlie growled fiercely, grabbing Joey by the shoulders. "You're not allowed to die, you can't leave me again," she finished, tears steadily streaming down her face.

"Is that an order, Senior Constable?"

She couldn't help but grin at Joey's cheekiness, even in the face of death she was cracking jokes. "Absolutely."

"Well, I wouldn't want to disobey a police order…" She shifted slightly and winced when it sent ripples of pain through her midsection. The pain written across Joey's face brought Charlie's attention back to the knife that was still firmly lodged into her ex's stomach. Upon closer inspection, she could see that the knife was buried right up to it's hilt and blood was just starting to seep out around the handle, staining Joey's previously pristinely white hoody with crimson.

"Oh god." Without thinking, Charlie went to pull the knife out but Joey's surprisingly firm grip around her wrist stopped her just in time.

"Don't!"

"I have to get it out," Charlie said, desperate to stop Joey from hurting. If she had been thinking rationally, she'd have remembered her police training to never do anything until there were paramedics on scene. But she wasn't thinking rationally, she was thinking like a woman that was watching her lover die. _Knife is hurting Joey, knife bad, get knife out._

"No." Joey swallowed hard against the pain and pressed a shaking hand to her tender belly. "The blade's serrated, it'll do more damage coming out than it did going in."

"So what do I do?" Charlie couldn't believe that she was the one panicking and Joey was the one that was completely calm. She was supposed to be the professional. She just couldn't think!

"Calling for help would be a good start."

"Right, help, yes." Charlie stood up and grabbed at the radio, frowning when she found it lifeless. _No! Nonononononono!!!_ she thought, remembering Hugo's words _"Since the radio isn't working and there's no phone reception out here…" He must've disabled the radio. That son of a bitch!_ Charlie pulled her mobile out of her pocket, hoping that Hugo hadn't been telling the truth about that too. "Dammit!" she yelled as 'No signal' flashed insistently on the screen.

No phone, no radio, they were truly alone out there. It would be at least an hour before anybody realized that they were missing and by then it would be too late.

"Let me guess, no signal?"

"No." Charlie collapsed on the deck beside her wounded ex-lover. Joey was dying and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. She looked at Joey's deathly pale face and knew that she was getting worse. "Joey, I love you. I do."

"Charlie, stop it. You don't have to say that just because I'm going to die."

"Hey, I thought I told you not to say that. You are not going to die, we're going to make it back and I'm going to take care of you and you're going to get better and when you do…when you do things will be different, I promise. I don't care what people think or what they say, I just want to be with you. I want to go on dates with you and hold your hand and kiss you in public." There's nothing like a near death experience to put things in perspective. "I want that. I want you…if you'll have me."

Joey smiled at her, she had no doubt that Charlie meant what she was saying, she just doubted the older woman's ability to follow through on such promises, but it was nice to hear her say the words and now was no time to start a fight. "Okay…but before any of that, we're going to have to get back to shore."

Oh yeah. Charlie looked out at the sea which had been turned almost golden by the sun that was beginning to set in the horizon. "How?"

"You're going to have to drive the boat."

Charlie looked at Joey like she was crazy. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. It's the easiest thing in the world."

"For you, maybe. I don't know how!"

"Sure, you do. I taught you, remember?"

"That was different." Driving the Blaxland around with Joey standing behind her, guiding her every move was nothing compared to this. "There has to be some other way."

"There's not. Charlie, you have to do this, there's no other option."

Charlie rapidly shook her head from side to side. If she was driving the boat then that meant that she wasn't with Joey. "They'll realize that we're missing, they'll come looking for us."

"And by then it'll be too late." Joey had no illusions about the seriousness of her injury, she knew that if she didn't get to a hospital soon, she was most certainly going to die. "I'll tell you exactly what to do." She grasped Charlie's hands tightly. "You trust me, don't you?"

What a stupid question. "Of course," Charlie answered without hesitation.

"Then trust me when I say that you can do this."

-

"Charlie, slow down."

"What?" Charlie's head whipped around. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. What possible reason could there be for Joey wanting to go slower.

"If you keep going this fast you're going to burn the motors out. You have to slow down," Joey explained. "Trust me…I don't like the idea anymore than you do."

Charlie looked down at the tachometer and noticed for the first time the small warning light that was flashing red. But she didn't want to slow down, she could hear Joey starting to slur her words and her breathing getting shallower, if anything it made her want to go faster. "Okay," she finally relented, easing back on the throttle until the needle on the tachometer came out of the red.

"So where do you want to go?" she asked, trying to both distract herself and keep Joey conscious and talking.

Joey raised an eyebrow and looked down at the knife embedded firmly in her abdomen. "I thought that the hospital would be fairly obvious."

Charlie couldn't stop herself from chuckling. She couldn't believe that even at a time like this, Joey was able to make her laugh. Angelo never made her laugh, not on purpose anyway. "No, I meant on our first date. Because I was thinking that we could take Alf's boat out again, what do you think?"

"As long as there's not a repeat of last time…" Joey trailed off into a small coughing fit, flinching at the pain the jerky movement caused.

"There won't be. I'm done running away. I wish that I hadn't run that day. If I could go back and do it all again, I would've stayed, I would've kissed you. I wanted to, you know, I was just…"

"Scared?" croaked Joey.

"Yeah."

"And now you're not?"

"No. Now I know that there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of."

-

Ahead in the distance Charlie could see the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles and almost collapsed with relief. The second that her phone had reception, she'd been onto the station explaining the situation to Watson, who'd thankfully been on desk duty at the time, and arranged to have pretty much everything they had waiting for them at the dock.

Of course, reaching land brought with it a whole new set of problems. It was easy enough for Charlie to keep the boat going forward but when it came to docking it, things suddenly became a lot more complicated. "Joey, what do I do now?…Joey?" When she got no answer, Charlie turned and gasped. The slight rise and fall of Joey's chest was the only proof that the younger woman was still alive. "Joey!"

Charlie's phone rang, making her jump, she fumbled to pull it from her pocket with one hand while keeping the other on the wheel. "Hello?"

"Charlie, kill the engine, we're coming to you." Charlie had never been so glad to hear Angelo's voice. She abruptly ended the call and did as he said. She could already see the police launch heading their way. Help was so close and yet so far away.

Abandoning her position at the helm of the boat, Charlie returned to Joey's side. "Oh god," she choked out, up close she could see that Joey's lips were starting to take on a terrifying shade of blue.

"Joey, come on, please don't do this. You have to stay, you have to stay with me," Charlie sobbed, caressing Joey's unresponsive face. "You promised."

"Charlie!?!"

"Here!" She kept a firm grip on Joey's limp hand as she turned to see Angelo boarding the boat, followed by two ambulance officers and another member of the maritime police. The dark haired man in blue overalls immediately headed for the controls, starting the engine and carefully guiding the boat back towards the dock.

Reluctantly, Charlie surrendered her grip Joey's hand and quickly moved out of the way so that the paramedics could start working on her.

"Are you okay?" Angelo asked, embracing his girlfriend from behind as she watched the ambulance crew like a hawk.

Charlie flinched and immediately removed herself from his arms, turning to look at him incredulously. She wasn't the one being worked on by the paramedics, she wasn't the one that got stabbed. Why was he asking if she was okay? "I'm fine."

"Her vitals are in the toilet," She overheard the red-headed medic said to his partner. "We're going to have to scoop and go."

The blonde nodded in agreement, there was nothing that they could really do to stabilize the girl in the field, she needed surgery. Fast.

"I'm coming with you."

"Charlie," Angelo interjected. "We need to get a statement from you."

"I can give it at the hospital. I'm not leaving her."

Angelo sighed, knowing that he'd finally lost her, realizing that he never really had her in the first place. "Alright, Watson can accompany you, I suppose."

Charlie barely acknowledged that he had even spoken, a faint nod the only indication that she had heard him. _She'll be alright. She'll be alright. She'll be alright._

-

"See? Didn't I tell you that this would be the perfect first date?"

"Nobody likes a braggart, Buckton." Joey smirked, settling back against the towels they had spread out over the deck, content to let the sun dry them off. "It's was nice of Alf to let us borrow his boat for the whole weekend."

"I think that he's still feeling guilty about the whole Hugo thing."

"He shouldn't." Joey glanced at her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye. "And you shouldn't either."

Charlie turned her head to look at the woman laying on the deck beside her and couldn't help but thinking that with the sun beating down on her pale skin Joey looked positively angelic. "I can't help it."

"Don't, it's over now. You know, in a way, I'm actually kind of glad it happened."

"You're glad you got stabbed?" Charlie rolled onto her side, letting her head rest on Joey's shoulder, and slid a hand across her lover's surprisingly toned belly, her fingertips barely grazing the skin until they reached their destination, just above the waistband of Joey's board shorts. The scar was long, raised and angry red. Joey hated it, she thought it was ugly. But in a way, Charlie kind of loved it. It reminded her every day to never take this amazing girl for granted.

Joey's lips quirked up into a half smile, bringing out her dimples. "Well it was the kick in the ass we needed to get our act together, wasn't it?"

"I guess it was." Charlie snuggled closer, nuzzling her face against Joey's neck, while still tracing her scar with her other hand. "I'm never going to let you get hurt again," she swore solemnly.

Their noses brushed when Joey turned her face to look at her, bringing a happy smile to both their faces. "That's not very realistic, you can't protect me from everything."

"I can try," she said simply. "Besides reality is overrated."

"Especially when the reality is that you have to go back to work tomorrow, right?"

"Exactly," Charlie giggled softly.

"Mmm, I just wish I could stay here forever."

"Now who's not being realistic?"

Joey just tilted her head and flashed her a crooked grin before leaning in to press her lips against Charlie's. Charlie moaned and deepened the kiss, wondering how she had ever let this go.

Abruptly, Joey pulled away and looked down at the hand that Charlie had resting on her stomach. "You've got my blood on your hands."

"Huh?" Charlie asked dumbly, her confused mind scrambling to make sense of her lover's words. She looked down at her hands and was horrified to find them slick with blood.

"Charlie-"

-

"Charlie!" Ruby nudged her sister, almost shouting in an effort to get her attention. Charlie had been sitting there, unmoving and staring at her bloody hands, for the last half an hour.

"What?" Charlie suddenly snapped to attention.

"I said that you've got blood on your hands. Maybe you should go and wash them." Ruby was scared, not just for Joey but for her sister too. She felt like she was losing them both and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Ruby had seen Charlie angry, she'd seen her scared and she'd seen her upset but she had never, ever seen Charlie look so hollow, so incredibly broken.

Charlie looked back down at the dried blood that coated her fingers. She didn't want to wash it off. It was probably highly unsanitary but it was the only part of Joey that she had left and, until she got the rest of her back, it wasn't going anywhere. "I will later."

Rachel stared at Charlie, extremely concerned, she knew the signs of shock when she saw them. Rachel wasn't even supposed to be at the hospital and had only popped in for a quick chat with the nurses. She'd just been about to leave when the doors to emergency burst open with the paramedics pushing the gravely injured Joey through on a stretcher with a hysterical Charlie not far behind.

As soon as Charlie had spotted Rachel she'd practically thrown herself at her, begging her to do whatever it took to save Joey. Rachel could honestly say that she had never seen Charlie display so much emotion in the years that she had known her. Of course, Rachel was still on maternity leave but had assured Charlie that the doctor that had been brought in from the city to replace her was a top-notch surgeon and would be in charge of Joey's care.

Seeing that Charlie was in no state to be left alone, Rachel had quickly made two calls, one to Ruby to inform her of what was happening and one to Tony to let him know that she would be home later than expected and that there was milk for Harry in the fridge.

"I still can't believe that Hugo would do this," Ruby repeated, trying to get her head around the fact that her (very soon to be ex) boyfriend's brother was a bad guy, a killer, and he had tried to kill Joey. _Who'd ever want to hurt Joey like that? It's like…like kicking a cute little puppy in the face! He really must be evil._

"Believe it," Charlie sighed wearily. She didn't want to talk about Hugo anymore. She'd already given her statement to Watson while the nurses had been prepping Joey for emergency surgery and she knew that there was already a search underway to recover his body. Charlie doubted that they'd find anything but it was a relief that Angelo was busy leading the search. It meant that he wasn't there smothering her, trying to act supportive when she knew that he'd like nothing more than to have Joey out of her life for good.

"Do you think Xavier knew?" Ruby just couldn't let it go. "No, wait, I don't think I want to know."

"Rubes," Nicole said gently, stilling Ruby's nervously bouncing knee with her hand. "Maybe now isn't the best time." She'd been with Ruby when the younger girl had gotten the call from Rachel, Nicole didn't think that she'd ever forget the way the blood drained from Ruby's face, leaving her pale and shaking. She had insisted on coming along to the hospital, even though she had formed an aversion to them after all the time she had spent in it while her father was in his coma. Joey was her friend. Sure, she may not of had the best dress sense or grasp of pop culture, but Joey was still one of the coolest people that Nicole had ever met.

"Oh." Ruby looked guiltily at Charlie's strained face. "Yeah, sorry….She's a fighter Charlz, she'll get through this." She didn't even want to think about what would happened if she didn't. "I-"

Ruby's next words died on her lips as the doors leading to the operating rooms swung open and Dr Barrett emerged, looking solemn in his blood stained scrubs. "H-how long has it been since they started surgery?" she stuttered, dread settling in her stomach like a stone.

"About two hours," Rachel answered absently. She knew that this wasn't a good sign. They all did.

Wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on her pants, Rachel stood and moved to intercept Dr Barrett. If there was bad news, she wanted to be the one to break it.

_It's too soon,_ Ruby thought, barely feeling Nicole's hand squeezing the life out of her own. _It shouldn't be over this soon._ She watched Rachel talk to the surgeon, their grim faces told her everything she had suspected but hoped wasn't true.

Her eyes flicked to Charlie, who was still slumped over in the hard plastic chair, still staring at her bloody hands. Ruby didn't even know if she was registering what was going on around her. "Charlie," she whispered, nudging her big sister gently as Rachel approached.

Charlie sprung up, as if leaping to attention in front of a superior officer, her entire body tense as a bow string. Nicole and Ruby rose apprehensively behind her.

"Charlie...I'm sorry," Rachel finally spoke the words that they had all been dreading. She heard Charlie whimper and saw the stoic facade slip for just the briefest moment into a pained grimace. "The knife did a lot of damage, there was just too much...Dr Barrett said that it was a miracle that she survived long enough to make it back to shore, let alone stayed conscious long enough to guide you back," she offered, knowing that it would be cold comfort.

"She saved me," Charlie whispered under her breath. She squeezed her eyes closed in an effort to back tears. "I want to see her."

Rachel hesitated, she had already overstepped her bounds by sharing information with Charlie when she knew that she wasn't Joey's family. "You know that I can't-"

"I need to see her!" It was clear that this was a demand and not a request.

Biting her lip, Rachel sighed. Joey's brother had been notified but had been in the city and wouldn't be there for quite a while. "I'll see what I can do," she finally relented. "Just wait here."

"Charlz," Ruby whimpered, moving out of Nicole's arms to hug her fragile big sister, only to find herself roughly being pushed away.

"Don't, Rubes!" Charlie snapped at her. She couldn't take it. She couldn't take Ruby hugging her and crying all over her, not now, not without breaking too. She couldn't break yet, she had to hold it together. She had to be strong. She had to be strong for Joey. "Not now."

Looking wounded, Ruby backed away until she felt Nicole's comforting presence behind her. "You know, it's okay to cry, Charlie."

"It's not okay," Charlie bit out through clenched teeth. "Nothing is ever going to be okay. Not anymore."

-

TBC


End file.
